Conventionally, dropped snow or ice which drops due to vibration caused when a vehicle passes a track turnout portion, rocks thrown when dropped snow or ice drops on ballasts and the ballasts jump, or the like, are sandwiched between a stock rail of the track turnout portion and a point rail, and there is a problem that the point rails are not shifted. Hence, various foreign material removing devices of track turnout portions have been developed or researched.
For example, Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2000-144602 A discloses a foreign material removing device of a track turnout portion which can supply compressed air supplied from a compressed air source device through a compressed air supply path, to a piping unit through a piping joint portion disposed below a stock rail, and can be easily installed on the stock rail without specially machining the stock rail.
The foreign material removing device of the track turnout portion disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2000-144602 A is a device which has point rails which can move to contact and move away from the stock rails, and removes a foreign material dropped between the stock rail of the track turnout portion to which a rail stopper which regulates an interval between the stock rail and the point rail is fixed to a lateral surface of the stock rail opposed to the point rail, and the point rail, has: the piping unit which is provided to the lateral surface of the stock rail opposed to the point rail; the compressed air source device which is installed near the track turnout portion and is connected to the piping unit through the compressed air supply path; a plurality of nozzle portions which are provided by being arranged in a longitudinal direction of the piping unit, and spray the compressed air from the compressed air source device to a front end side of the point rail; and the piping joint portion which is disposed closer to a back end side of the point rail than the rail stopper and below the stock rail, and connects the piping unit and the compressed air supply path, and has features that the rail stopper is screwed to the stock rail by an attaching bolt which penetrates the stock rail in the horizontal direction, and the piping unit is screwed to the stock rail together with the rail stopper by the attaching bolt.